TravelStream™ news feed for member kyleandfran on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/kyleandfran en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 25 Apr 2007 11:30:07 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1176218880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1176218880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1176218880/tpod.html Wed, 25 Apr 2007 11:30:07 -0400 Fran and Kyle's travels in Latin America

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Cusco, Peru

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]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1175896380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1175896380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1175896380/tpod.html Fri, 06 Apr 2007 17:56:17 -0400 Fran and Kyle's travels in Latin America

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Vilcabamba, Ecuador

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]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1175530260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1175530260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1175530260/tpod.html Fri, 06 Apr 2007 17:37:12 -0400 Fran and Kyle's travels in Latin America

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Puerto Ayora, Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

     We were VERY excited to arrive in the Galapagos Islands, and right away noticed how hot it was. Before this we hadn't realized that we had spent nearly two months in moderate climates in the mountains, without seeing the ocean. Our first day was spent at Tortuga Bay. The bay is about an hour walk out of town on a nice brick walkway passing through dense foliage. Arriving at the beach we were simply in awe of our surroundings. You first encounter a long white sand beach with medium surf. At the end of the beach there is a peninsula of lava rocks with a cactus forest, all enclosed by mangroves. Around the bend you find the second beach, set amidst a lagoon on the far side of the cactus forest. Behind the beach the desert begins immediately, with cactus covered dunes stretching on for miles inland before the mountains. On the first beach we saw a large marine iguana lounging on the sand, and after taking a few pictures we decided it was likely dead. We gently tapped it's tail and it awoke, not dead after all. It was surprising how little our presence affected his sunbathing, he didn't even move when we got right close to him for pictures. After seeing that one, we soon noticed that the marine iguanas are not a rare sight, they were literally everywhere along the beach, totally oblivious to human presence. We lounged on the second beach under the shade of a mangrove tree all day, and regretted when the time finally came to head home. This was definetely one of the most amazing places we have been.      The second morning we went on a day trip to the island of Floreana, a two hour ride in a fast boat. Arriving at Floreana, we saw four or five sealions sleeping on the dock, some finding some shade under a truck. They too were very docile and allowed us to approach as close as we wanted, but of course we didn't touch them. We walked to another part of the island where we had our first encounter with the underwater life of the Galapagos. We snorkelled with sea turtles and sea lions, the latter approaching us very close. One thing that surprised us is how cold the water was, much colder that we were used to in the Caribbean. We proceeded to go to three different snorkel sites, each with different attractions. From the boat, we were able to see some Galapagos Penguins on the rocks. At the second site Fran saw four or five really big sea turtles, and the third site offered amazing visibility.     On our third day we checked into the Ninfas Hotel, the one we had booked for our tour. It was quite a shock to us, as the hotel was much nicer than we expected or required. It featured a restaurant with meals included, a large pool, our own mini-bar, and overall a nice atmosphere which we were not used to. All of the other guests were older couples or families, and the hotel reminded us both of somewhere we would go with our parents. The first lunch shocked us: fresh seafood cocktail, followed by succulent fish and salad, with a dessert of fruit. It turned out that every meal was three courses...and delicious. The same day we met our divemaster for the week, and went on our first dive. The whole dive setup was much better than we have ever experienced. Our divemaster, Quike, was very thorough with his briefings, and the equipment was almost brand new. Our first immersion was not quite what we expected, it immediately reminded us of BC waters. The water was murky and greenish, and the seafloor had more rocks than coral. Nonetheless, it was a great dive. The most interesting thing we saw was a group of sealions that were very playful, and one even bit Kyle's fin.     The second day of diving we woke early and took the boat to a more remote site. The boat was located right across from our hotel, on the south side of the island. The site we went to was on the north side of the island. Today we had two others diving with us, and we became friends with one, a Russian named Peter. On our three dives we saw a large school of golden rays, a few very big marble rays, two spotted eagle rays, a few sting rays, many sealions, a few sea turtles, and a stonefish. The coolest thing Kyle saw was a luminescent jellyfish that shined blue and yellow like a movie theatre marquee.      After the dive we took a bus from the north side of the island, and got out along the way with Peter to explore the twin craters. It was very interesting to see two huge volcano craters located adjacent to one-another. While walking on the road towards town we were picked up by a tour bus full of Ecuadorian tourists. We were pressured into singing with a microphone at the front of the bus, this effectively paid our way. We thought we would be taken into town, but instead they let us join in on their tour, normally 45 dollars! The tour took us on a hike through the forest where we saw wild giant tortoises that were HUGE, and likely very old. Along the hike we picked all our own fresh fruits as snacks. The tour then took us to a lava tunnel, essentially a large cave. We went through the tunnels with the tour group and the ride home featured more mandatory singing. That night Peter joined us in the hotel room, for a fun night that included geography quizzes over a box of wine. We managed to name eight of the fifteen countries from the former Soviet Union, and Peter could name five of the ten Canadian provinces.     The next day of diving we went further north, and again did three dives. The highlights on this day included: a spotted puffer fish, a golden puffer fish, an few ENOURMOUS schools of barracudas, many sealions, about fifteen spotted eagle rays, some golden and marble rays, a juvenile cowfish, a frogfish, some trumpet fish, many triggerfish, sea turtles, and two sea horses mating! The best part of this day was the playful sealions. They were so curious, three came up and rubbed against Kyle, biting his BCD and depth guage. Their faces were no more than six inches from Kyle's face! Unfortunately however, still no sharks...     The final day of our diving we again did three dives, which all had much better visibility than other days. Finally we saw sharks! On our first dive we saw seven white-tipped reef sharks, two large moray eels, 2 very large trumpet fish, a sea turtle, four spotted eagle rays, a Galapagos nudibranch, and an eel garden. On our second dive we saw four big stingrays, many barracuda, a turtle in a school of krillfish, sea lions, a grouper, and...a tiger shark! This was only the third time our divemaster had sighted a tiger shark, they are not common around the Galapagos. Tiger sharks are known to be aggressive, and are considered dangerous. Our last dive in the Galapagos Islands was very cold, and we didn't see anything of much interest for the first half of the dive. However, all of a sudden we saw a hammerhead shark (finally!) and about a minute later a BIG tiger shark approached very close. This was a VERY exciting moment for us!     After a very exciting week, the time came to leave the islands and head back to the mainland. It was well worth spending the extra money to see the amazing wildlife in the Galapagos Islands, it was a major highlight of our trip.Love you all lots, Kyle and Fran
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1174922100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1174922100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1174922100/tpod.html Wed, 04 Apr 2007 20:20:54 -0400 Fran and Kyle's travels in Latin America

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Guayaquil, Ecuador

     We left the farm and headed west to Popayan. The drive took us through some spectacular views of mountains and cloud forests. Popayan is known as the White City because it is filled with stunning colonial architecture, with every building painted white . It was a bit tough to get back on the road after three weeks at the farm, so it took us a few days to get into the travelling mode again. We celebrated Kyle's birthday with a nice steak dinner, only his second steak since Canada! We caught up on our laundry in Popayan as well, but unfortunately Kyle's new wool sweater didn't dry properly, and began to stink pretty bad. One day we went to the market in the town of Silvia, a two hour bus ride away. The indegenous people of Silvia were all dressed pretty wierd, and everyone looked the same. They were wearing a purple poncho, a black skirt, leather boots, and a bowler hat. The overall outfit looked quite silly and out of place.      Our next stop was Ipiales, the town closest to the Ecuadorian border. The attraction of Ipiales is the Santuario de las Lajas, fifteen minutes out of town. The Santuario is a large Neo-Gothic church which was built over a large gorge, looking like something from a scene in the Lord of the Rings.  The next day we set out for the border and had a very easy crossing into Ecuador.     On the bus ride from the border to Otavalo Kyle's sweater still stunk bad, so Fran made him put it in the overhead luggage rack. The ride took a few hours, and half an hour into it, the bus was stopped at a police checkpoint. We (the only two gringos) were ordered off the bus, and the police proceeded to thoroughly search through all our luggage. This was the most intensive search we have yet encountered, and Kyle's pat-down was borderline intrusive. Another thing we noticed as soon as we entered Ecuador was the ''pop-bottle gas stations''. Dozens of people were on the side of the street with a jerry can and a cut two liter pop bottle with a tube taped on, offering to top up the tanks of passing cars. Soon we arrived in Otavalo and checked in to our hotel, only to find TV with english cable!     Otavalo is known as the largest market in Ecuador, and one of the largest in South America. There are literally hundreds of artisan stalls in one city square, with people selling everything you would want to buy (and lots of things you woundn't!). We bought many souvenirs at the market, which sells local things as well as imported goods from Peru and Bolivia. The most common items are the distinctive striped pants, which we had seen in Colombia but were much cheaper here. In addition to the artisan market, there was a livestock market, where we witnessed cow auctions, and piglets in sacks. Fran even got stepped on by a particularly large pig. One thing we noticed early about Ecuador is how common international food is compared to Colombia´s tradtional cusine. We soon found ourselves missing the 'comida tipica', and we were craving some rice and beans again. When it came time to pack for Quito, Kyle noticed he didn't have his sweater. After about an hour of deductive thinking we realised that it was left on the bus from the border, which continued on to Quito after dropping us in Otavalo. We began the search for the lost sweater.     We arrived in Quito to a very cold and rainy day. We stayed in a Canadian-owned hostal in a nice part of the city. Kyle was worried about his sweater, but we had both basically given up hope that we would find it. The next day we went back to the bus station, and to our surprise, it was still on the bus in the overhead rack! We laughed about how the fact that it stunk was likely the only reason nobody took it. In Quito we went to a travel agent to investigate trips to the Galapagos islands. We decided on a good, relatively affordable trip to the islands, which would depart from the south of Ecuador a week later. Another thing we really enjoyed in Quito was eating shish taouks. If you dont know what a shish taouk is, go to a Lebanese restaurant and get one, they are a Montreal favourite. Quito is very close to the equator, and we happened to be there on March 21st, the equinox. At noon on that day the sun was directly overhead, and we really had no shadows...it was cool.     We left Quito to head further inland to Latacunga, a town in the shadow of the Cotopaxi volcano. Cotopaxi is truly a neat sight, a huge snow capped volcano reaching into the sky. It is actually the World's tallest active volcano. While we didn't hike the volcano, we opted to take a day trip to the nearby Quilotoa crater. Quilotoa is a giant crater lake, with the most emerald green waters we have ever seen. We also visited another local stock market, only not like the NYSE or the TSE, a livestock market. This market had much of the same as in Otavalo, except here there were many llamas, from which the incredibly soft alpaca wool is derived.     The next place we visited was Baños. Baños is a wonderfull mountain town, set in a valley with mountains on three sides. Baños is known for its abundance of waterfalls and hotsprings nearby, heated by volcanic activity. We were staying in a really great hostal, Santa Cruz, one of our favourites so far. We made friends with four Swiss travellers, and that night we all went on a night ride in a chiva. The chiva was a great time, with cuba libres adding to the fun. The bus took us to a viewpoint from where you can see the Tungarahua Volcano, which had recently become very active. Unfortunately, it was not a clear enough night to see it, but still a good party. The following day we rented a dune-buggy, and took it out on a stretch of highway called the "waterfall route". The machine went pretty fast, and at times was pretty sketchy, especially when we were being passed by busses and going through tunnels without headlights. We saw some cool waterfalls, and the go-kart was a blast to drive. On the way home, the buggy broke down, and we had to wait a while for assistance to arrive. A truck eventually came to tow the dune-buggy, with us inside! It was really fun being towed, almost as fun as actually driving it. Along the way we passed our Swiss friends riding on bikes, and we all got quite a laugh from the sight of us being towed.      We spent the night of March 26th in Guayaquil, in a hotel next to the airport. We rose early in the morning VERY excited to be heading to the Galapagos Islands.     The Galapagos entry will be coming soon with lots of pictures!We hope all the snow has melted in Montreal and everyone is having a great Spring!Take Care,Fran and KyleCrib Scores:  We haven´t been playing much... but Fran is still losing.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1171932420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1171932420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1171932420/tpod.html Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:59:16 -0400 Fran and Kyle's travels in Latin America

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Finca Esteban, Colombia

     We arrived in San Agustin early in the morning, with only a faint idea of how to reach the farm of Cicily and Steve (Kyle's friends from home). We ate a good breakfast at the Brahma, and Fran stayed at the restaurant while Kyle set out to contact Cicily's friends in town. After an hour of searching, Kyle returned to the Brahma empty handed, only to find Fran chatting at a table with Cicily's family! As it turns out, Al and Anne (Cicily's Dad and his girlfriend) and Gage and Devon (Cicily's brother and his friend) had spent a few days in San Agustin, and were heading back to the farm that day, just our luck! We all spent a few more hours around town and bought some food and supplies, then set out in the back of a truck to the little town of Pradera.      We really had no idea what to expect of the farm, and at first we thought it was within walking distance of San Agustin. As it turns out, Pradera is about an hour drive down a dirt road, and the farm is another forty minute walk from the town. We arrived in Pradera in mid afternoon just as Cicily was riding up into town on her horse with her four month old baby Arco. We were also greeted by many locals who were genuinely interested in talking to us gringos. It is likely that this was the largest concentration of gringos Pradera has ever seen. Some older Colombians were already half-drunk (or fully drunk perhaps) and proceeded to play us some songs with a guitar and hand-drum while we all sat around with beers and tasted their cane liquor. A few young kids immediately became enthralled with Fran, and as soon as she took out her camera, she was swarmed by a whole group of kids, all wanting to see the pictures of themselves.     After a few beers, we all went inside one of the houses, where Cicily had planned to come and make tamales. A local woman taught us how to prepare the tamales, and by this time we were all starving. It was getting late however, and we had to make the walk down to the farm before dark, so the tamales had to wait until later. By the time we finished the trek down the rocky path to the farm it was dark, but Steve was there to greet us in the make-shift lower house. Steve took the two of us up to the site of the house-in-progress, and we set up our tent on a (seemingly) flat area. When we headed back down below we started drinking beers and eating tamales (brought down from Pradera by Hugo), and caught up on old times. This night was also when we were first introduced to Steve and Cicily's Colombian friends, Hugo, Fabio, and Jose, their father Guillermo, and the very unique Carlitos. Later in the night we sat around a fire, where we first heard the songs of Carlitos, which he sings with incredible enthusiasm and passion. Carlitos is a pretty small eighteen year old, but he is strong as a horse. His somewhat awkward personality is very much hightened by his self-written love-songs, and at times while listening it is hard to keep a straight face. We also taught him some english words which he was very eager to learn, and upon a (somewhat) correct pronunciation would periodically respond with a ''YES, YES!''. (A real you-had-to-be-there).     In the morning, we awoke to the truly amazing view from our tent of the surrounding hillsides of the valley. The farm is situated on twenty-two acres of land, mostly still uncleared. Scattered around the land, some not far from the house, are dozens of tombs left by the indigenous peoples thousands of years ago. Hugo has a method of finding and extracting the tombs, and around the farm are some remnants from inside, such as bones and clay pots. Not far below in the valley is the Rio Magdalena, which begins not far upriver, and proceeds to flow all the way North into the Caribbean (a truly impressive journey). As mentioned earlier, there was a small dwelling on the lower section of the farm that was constructed before Steve bought the land. Here is where their kitchen was located when we first arrived. A short walk up the hill brings you to the cleared land, and the real house. Steve and Cicily designed the house themselves, and it really is an amazing sight. It is a circular wood-frame home built in the idigenous style of the region. The house is three stories, with wood supports, bamboo framing, and a thatched cane-leaf roof. Upon arrival, the cement floor was not completed, and the upper level floors had not yet been installed. The first few days we were there, the priority was installing the toilet and sink, and putting in a UV water filter.     We spent our first day at the farm hanging around and eating a delicious soup prepared by Anne, while Steve and the Colombians were hard at work. The second day the two of us along with Gage and Devon went on a hike to a very cool waterfall, with Hugo and Fabio leading the way. The waterfall, Tres Chorros (three streams), was carved by the indigenous people thousands of years ago, so that at it's peak it split into three streams. It was a beautiful, serene place to be, and a source of wonder for the local people to enjoy. Along the hike back Hugo showed us the foundations of an extremely old indigenous town. Dinner that night was again fabulous, something we would get used to in the days to come. The meals we ate were quite tipical but very delicious, especially considering there is no fridge at the farm.      On our third day at Finca Esteban the supplies began to run low. Kyle volunteered to make the trek into town on the back of a motorbike, with Hugo in the driver's seat. Kyle was surprised at how efficient Hugo was at finding everything that was needed in town. Hugo proceeded to buy each type of vegetable from a different vendor in the market, leaving Kyle trailing at his heels. Somehow on the way to the farm on the first day Kyle lost his nice fleece sweater, so he and Hugo took a cab to the town of Pitalito, a forty minute ride. Here Kyle bought a nice new wool sweater with an argyle design, and was very pleased with his new purchase. The trip for supplies ended up taking a full day, and the two of them arrived back at the farm just after dark. Fran and Kyle cooked dinner for everyone that night, with an added luxury not commonly eaten, chicken.     Very early in the morning the two of us rose, and woke up Devon and Gage so the four of us could walk to the crossroads near Pradera to meet another Colombian friend, Fabian. For the next three days Fabian was to be our guide on a horseback tour to the Laguna Magdalena, the source of the Magdalena River. The trip began with a ride ON a truck (not in it) which at its peak had FIFTEEN people standing on the back bumper of a truck hanging on tight around the windy turns. We arrived for breakfast at the end of the road, the town of Quinchana, which was also where we got our horses. We crossed the river on horseback to begin the journey which took us up and down uncounted valleys and mountainsides. The five of us rode for about three hours before stopping for lunch at a small river. After that there was another 2 hours of riding before we reached our stop for the night.      The landscapes we witnessed on the Laguna trip are absolutely indescribable; we rode through dense jungles, open grassy fields, wet cloud forests, and very cold high-altitude tundras. The amazing pictures we have do not do these views justice. This is simply the most beautiful scenery we have witnessed in our 5 months and 8 countries of travels. The hours of riding gave the four boys ample practice at every possible opportunity to pass their ''ciggarettes'' up and down the line of horses, without skipping a beat.     The houses we saw along the way to the lagoon gave an entirely new meaning to the word 'remote'. These people living in these houses are literally days on horseback away from the nearest town, which in turn is hours in a car away from any ''city''. We seem to have been slightly mistaken when we thought Cicily and Steve's farm was in the middle of nowhere. The house we stayed in was in a high altitude, and the nights were cold. After dinner the four of us had little energy to do anything but crash into bed, especially considering that we would awake at seven to continue riding.      The second day was filled with yet more incredible scenery, and this day we rode for four straight hours before reaching the Laguna viewpoint. Unfourtunately, it was very very cold and the visibility was close to none, so on our lunch break we saw nothing of the reportedly beautiful lagoon. We had stopped for little more than half an hour before re-mounting our steeds and making the four hour return trip to our lodging, making a total of eight hours on horseback on this day. When we arrived we were all extremely sore, and again we all crashed soon after dinner. The following morning we made a non-stop return trip to Quinchana, and made it back to the farm in the early afternoon to tell everyone of our incredible journey.     The next two days consisted of some serious relaxing around the farm before our trip into town. The two of us, along with Anne, Al, Devon, and Gage went into San Agustin for some greasy meals and some sleeps in a real bed. Anne and Al left on an evening bus to Bogota, from where they would fly to Cartagena for some good beachtime. That night we went out for dinner at a small cafeteria, and on the menu Kyle and Gage spyed the Bistek a Caballo. Bistek means steak, and caballo means horse...So, feeling brave, they both ordered a horse steak. It was very tender and quite a good meal, and they both felt so proud that they had just eaten horse. On the walk back to the hotel we ran into our friend Eliaser and told him of the accomplishment at dinner. Eliaser proceeded to laugh pretty hard and tell us that it was not a horse steak, but just a steak prepared in a certain way, called the bistek a caballo. This really ruined our fun.     The following day the four of us went on a four-hour horseback tour of the surrounding area of San Agustin. San Agustin is known as the archaeological center of Colombia, with hundreds of sites and ruins scattered around the hillside. We saw some really interesting sites, but the real highlight of the trip was galloping at full speed through the hills, with Devon and Kyle's horses leading the way. Fran's horse was old and decrepit, and at one point just collapsed and wouldn't get up, and we are almost sure that it died later that day...no joke. For the return to the farm we brought food replenishments as well as a blender as a gift for Steve and Cicily. Over the coming days it was well used to make great salsas, juices and dips.     In the next week at the farm, some time was spent helping Steve work around the place. We helped to improve and clear the trail up to the house from below, and Kyle helped Steve with some flooring on the second floor. A few days after our return from San Agustin Kyle and Steve moved the stove and propane tank, along with the big table, up to the upper house. The new kitchen space was a huge improvement over the lower house, with much more room to cook and clean. By this time the toilet and sinks had been installed also, and there was clean, drinkable water.       Our last week at the farm we mainly just hung around and enjoyed our time in such a wonderful place. A lot of fun times were spent watching Arco in his jolly jumper, he is just such a cute baby! A few times the Colombians were instructed to bring down beers with them on their way to work, and those nights we all drank and had a great time playing cards and drinking games. One night we even made a beerbong and had a good night with it, reminiscent for us of Gardner Hall, fourth floor. A few times we lit HUGE brush fires on the land adjacent to the house that had recently been cleared. On the nights when we had alcohol, one of the highlights was listening to more of Carlitos' songs. We even translated one song into English for him, and just for fun included some dirty words which didn't belong. A few days after our return from town, Gage and Devon had to leave to return home to Canada after six weeks in Colombia. The days after their departure were more calm and relaxed, with less partying. When it came the time for our last night however, we celebrated Kyle's birthday a few days early with many beers and many donuts. The donuts were simple, just fried dough covered in cinnamon and sugar, but they tasted fabulous!     Leaving the farm was pretty sad for us and we both agreed that we could spend all of our remaining weeks there, but decided it was time to head on. We said our goodbyes to Cicily, Steve, Arco, and the Colombians, and promised to return back to the farm someday. So much had changed at the farm in the short time we were there, and hearing Steve's plans for the place, incredible changes are still in store. We don't know when the time will come for our return, but we know for sure that someday we will again ride in a bumpy truck from San Agustin, and we will again walk down the rocky path from Pradera to encounter a whole new place on the site of Finca Esteban.      The entry you have just read is without a doubt our favourite leg of our journey, and it is hard to imagine that these fun times can be beaten in our remaining 5 weeks of travelling. The stay at the farm was an entirely different experience from just 'travelling'. Our Spanish improved exponentially more in this time than in all of our previous months of travelling combined. The time spent in these three weeks was time spent with true friends, Canadian and Colombian alike, and we learned the culture of another country in a way we had never imagined possible. Overall, this experience is simply unbeatable, and this is the only place that we can say with certainty that one day, we will return home to.    We hope you all enjoy following our activities through reading and viewing pictures, and we cannot wait until we have time to share in person to convey these stories to you. Take care back home everyone, and we will be returning to see you shortly. With Love, Kyle and Fran.Crib Scores To Date:      Kyle: 50 Wins; 12 Skunks.        &nbsp ;  Fran: 36 Wins; 8 Skunks
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1174489980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1174489980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1174489980/tpod.html Wed, 04 Apr 2007 11:14:20 -0400 Fran and Kyle's travels in Latin America

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Latacunga, Ecuador

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]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1171586700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1171586700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1171586700/tpod.html Sat, 17 Mar 2007 19:29:41 -0400 Fran and Kyle's travels in Latin America

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Bogota, Colombia

     Cartagena is probably the most well known Colombian city to foreign tourists. It is far removed from the image of 'dangerous' Colombia, and is even visited by several cruise ships every year. The image most people have of Cartagena is of the fabulous colonial architecture and walls of the old city. The part of town where most budget travellers stay is only a short walk from the walled city, but the area is really dirty and definetely not 'nice'. We did, however, really enjoy walking around the walled city, and the architecture very much lives up to its reputation.      We took a day-long boat tour to some of the nearby islands and beaches, and saw some of the most crystal-clear waters we have yet to see. Unfortunately this was the one time we went to a beach and Kyle forgot to bring his snorkel. The next day we went about an hour North of the city to a very unique volcano. Instead of hot lava, this volcano spews forth cool mud from its crater. We got to be fully submerged in the mud, and received massages while floating on the surface. Afterwards, only a 20 meter walk away in the lagoon, we were rinsed totally clean by the women. This was truly a full-service spa experience, for only a few dollars. In the night we rode around town in a traditional Colombian wood-sided bus, called a chiva. The 'Rumba en Chiva' featured a live band in the back, a guide telling us all about the important sites in the town, and - get this - included FREE drinks for the duration of the night. It goes without saying that fun times were had by all on the chiva.      We headed inland on a 12-hour bus ride to Medellin, former home of Pablo Escobar and the infamous Escobar Cartel. We arrived at the hostel around dinnertime, and there were a few guys sitting around playing poker. Of course Kyle bought-in, and ended up winning again! Too bad the stakes were only equivalent to two dollars. On our first day in Medellin we went up the side of the valley and went paragliding. The views from high above the city absolutely cannot be beat! The ride lasted about thirty minutes and was well worth the thirty dollars we paid. The next day was spent on a day trip to the town of Guatape, and to the Piedra el Peñol. The piedra(stone) is an incredibly tall rock formation jutting out of a lake ridden landscape. The views from atop the 700 stairs were amazing, wait for the pictures!      After Medellin we headed to Manizales, a city in the heart of the coffee-growing region of Colombia. Early in the morning we set out for our tour of Parque Nacional Los Nevados, a high altitude national park near Manizales. The bus took us as high as 4800 meters, (15,750 feet) over 1000 feet higher than the highest peak in the rockies! From there there is an hour and a half walk through the icy landscape to 5100 meters, (16,750 feet) or 1000 feet lower than Everest base camp. Unfortunately on this day the path was blocked by an avalanche, so we were unable to continue on. On the ride back down the mountain we stopped at a hot spring for a swim in some very warm, VERY sulphurous water. While on this tour we made some spanish-speaking friends who wouldn't allow us to speak english, even to each other, which gave us some good spanish practice. Since the path was blocked that day, we were offered to return for the tour the following morning free of charge, and climb to the summit. Unfortunately that morning Kyle woke up with a splitting headache and was unable to get out of bed, so fran completed the hike on her own. Kyle's headache ended up lasting for about three days straight, day and night, and we attributed it to altitude sickness. One of the following days while Kyle was still sick Fran went to a Manizales soccer game with some friends. She had as much fun watching the game as she did watching the die-hard fans cheer or whistle over various controversies.      After Manizales we headed to Salento, a nice quiet town, still in the heart of the Zona Cafetera. People visit Salento because of it's proximity to the Valle de Cocora, or Cocora Valley. The valley could be a sight straight from Switzerland, other than the enormous palm trees dotting the landscape. The Cocora valley is home to the wax palm, the World's tallest species of palm tree, reaching heights of up to 60 meters! We went to the valley with a few people, and all of us assumed the others knew where we were going. There was the odd signpost on the trail, but as it turns out we ended up hiking for five hours, basically to nowhere, before turning back. Us two were the leaders on the hike, and left the others behind fairly early along the way, and we later learned that everyone turned back after about two hours. It goes without mentioning that we slept well that night! The following day we went with our British friend Helen to a theme park called Panaca. We had basically no idea what was there before going, other than that they had pig-racing. The park ended up being a really wierd barn-animal theme park, which did in fact have pig races. Other features of the park were a horse show, a freaky small animal show, a dog show, and a COW show (no joke). Panaca was basically a zoo, but for boringly common animals rather than exotic ones.     Next, on to the big city of six million, Bogota. Bogota was a pretty cool city, with many museums. We had heard along our travels which museums were the coolest, so we limited our visits to the top three. The Botero Museum was pretty cool if you are into art, but Kyle was bored basically after the first room of paintings. The Gold Museum is probably the most well known, and had some very interesting pieces. It has a collection of numerous pre-colombian gold artefacts taken from all parts of country.  Our favourite museum was the police museum. This featured all sorts of random things, all somehow related to law enforcement. There was one room that had numerous uniforms of different police organizations worldwide, including of course the red mounty uniform of Canada. Another cool room was full of hundreds of different guns of all sorts, some behind glass and some out in the open. Our guide was a young guy, and even let Kyle pick up, cock, and fire a particularly large rifle (as long as his boss wasn't around). Probably the coolest room was the 'Escobar Room' which was filled with items that belonged to Pablo Escobar. There was a voice disguising phone, his leather jacket, his handguns, and his motorcycle, amongst other things. Also featured were a few pictures of Pablo post-mortem, after the police raided his hideout and shot him.      Fran's friend Sebastion has cousins in Bogota, and one night we met up with them and a few of their friends. They generously took us out to one of their favourite night-spots, and we spent the night drinking aguardiente (a Colombian unmatured rum that tastes like licorice). One day we got a meal we really couldn't stomach, so we boxed it to go, gave it to a homeless man, and went to McDonald's. This was our first McDonald's on our travels, and we enjoyed it enough that we went back for lunch the following day. On our last day in Bogota we went to a bullfight. Outside the stadium was a huge group of animal-rights activists protesting the bullfight, and between them and the entrance was a small army of police in full riot gear. Kyle really enjoyed the bullfight, but Fran was disgusted and began to read her book after the first bull was killed. There were a total of five bulls killed, and the sixth had it's life spared due to an outstanding performance. That evening we took an overnight bus to San Agustin.  We spent three incredible weeks in the San Agustin area... stories from our stay will be coming soon.We hope you are all enjoying the start of Spring!Love,Kyle and FranCrib Score:  See next entry
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1170276960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1170276960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1170276960/tpod.html Sat, 17 Mar 2007 18:45:21 -0400 Fran and Kyle's travels in Latin America

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Santa Marta, Colombia

    We made our way North along the Nicoya Peninsula from Montezuma to Santa Teresa, another Costa Rican beach town. Santa Teresa is situated along a 3km long beach with great waves, drawing a large surfer crowd. Every sunset the beach was loaded with some of the best surfers we have ever seen. We didn't surf, instead tried more boogie boarding, but the waves prooved to be a little too big for that. The last night there we biked a short ways to Malpais with Austin and the Argentinians, where there was a big party to celebrate the coming swells. The bar was pretty big, featuring a pool table, ping-pong table and a mechanical bull. After watching many people try their luck on the bull, Kyle decided to do it a little differently. He hopped on and rode it backwards, needless to say that fun was shortlived. A twist of good fortune found us with a tiny tent, and Austin with a good sized three-man tent. The tent trade left all parties happy.     The next morning, with little rest, we left the Pacific Ocean for the Carribean. We eventually arrived in Puerto Viejo after 13 hours of bus rides. Around a campfire that night we got to talking with yet another fellow Vancouverite (It's amazing how many we run into!). After talking to John for awhile, we found out that he also lived near The Drive last summer, the same area in which Kyle lived. Somehow the topic was probed deeper, and as it turns out, he lived on the corner of Victoria and 11th Ave, ON THE SAME BLOCK AS KYLE. So ya... now Kyle can say he met someone from across the street while in Costa Rica! Our Hostel, Rockin' J's, was ornately covered with mosaics and paintings, all done by visiting travellers. It featured a "hammock hotel" with dozens of hammocks lined up side by side, unfortunately without bugnets. We spent two nights in a hammock before taking off to Panama in search of a better nights rest.      After yet another problem-free border crossing, we took a short boat ride to Bocas del Toro, it sure was neato! The ride took us through a series of canals, originally dug by banana farmers. Along the way we passed the Chiquita Banana plantation, where we saw bundles of bananas moving along a coveyer to be bagged, and eventually to be loaded onto freighters and shipped home for all you to eat. We kept our eyes peeled, but unfortunately didn't see any girls with big bundles of fruit on their heads. Bocas del Toro is actually a string of islands, but we only went to the largest, Isla Colon. It was rainy for the duration of our stay, so lots of time was spent reading and drinking hot chocolate. We managed to escape the rain and get out on two dives, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Bocas will be remembered for the lovely gourmet grocery that served delicious sandwiches made-to-order!     We left the rain of the islands, and headed cross country to Boquete, a cold and windy mountain town. The Bocas-Boquete drive is one of the most scenic and memorable journeys yet. In Boquete we went for a horseback ride through the mountains, and had a very good time. We both agree that we would like to do more riding in the coming months. We woke up one morning to hike to a viewpoint from which you can see both oceans, but it was very cloudy and rainy, so we turned back.      Panama City was our next stop, and our final destination in Central America. The city's skyline is sculpted by massive skyscrapers, yet the city itself does not have the same rushed highways and dirty streets that we have come to expect from a Central American city.  The first night we went downtown, amongst the tall posh hotels and bustling casinos. After asking the clerk at our hotel which was best, we descended upon the Casino Venetto. Kyle entered into a high-stakes cash game, at a table with some very intimidating players. While Kyle spent three fun hours slowly losing his money, Fran enjoyed the luxury of free drinks.      The Panama canal lived up to all our expectations. We visited in mid morning, to witness an enormous cargo ship slowly proceed through the passage, with inches to spare on either side. It took just over half an hour to raise the ship from sea level to the 85 foot mark. We watched as the various locks filled and emptied, and as the cable cars patiently pulled the freighter clear of the first set of locks. All the while we witnessed the crew members casually chatting and eating their lunch on deck, reciprocating the gazes of the hundreds of tourists in the crowd. We learned that beginning in March of this year, ground will be broken to start the enormous job of expanding the canal. The two new larger locks will enable the passage of larger ships, thereby allowing the Panamanian government to collect more from tariffs (The highest paid tariff to date is $249,000US!).     We spent the rest of four days touring the city with our Nova Scotian friends Dave and Nicki; we all enjoyed taking in the sights of colonial architecture in Casco Antiguo, and basking in the sun on the peaceful beaches of Isla Taboga. One very fun night the four of us headed downtown to find a good dance spot, only to be denied since Kyle and Dave were in shorts (somehow they didn't mind the sandals though!). We did find a place, and we proceeded to buy, and finish, a bottle of rum between the four of us...who's idea was that anyways? Thus, our travels in Central America came to an end, and Kyle put the 'Lonely Planet: Central America on a Shoestring' to the bottom of his backpack.     A short flight took us to Barranquilla, Colombia, a place of little interest, and we made it by bus to Santa Marta in 3 long hot hours. We took in what there is to see of Santa Marta: The oldest cathedral in Colombia, a beautiful central square, and a nearby Aquarium. Kyle said it best, "Anyone who scuba dives shouldn't visit aquariums". Enough said. By now we were ready to leave, and headed to the small, nearby town of Taganga. Taganga is a small pleasant bay, loaded with fishing boats. We found a real score, and stayed in a backroom of a Colombian family's home. Taganga houses many little dive shops, all offering day trips to sites in Parque Tayrona, a short boat ride Northeast. We had two full days filled with mediocre dives, good sites with poor visibility. We had a chuckle at our divemasters as they snoozed in hammocks for a few hours during the surface interval.      The next three nights were spent in our new mansion of a tent, in Parque Tayrona. The park entrance is only an hour busride away, and from there it is a significant hike onwards. This two hour hike was the first time we have done any sort of a walk with ALL of our gear. Needless to say, we were mucho sore, and ready for an early night in Arrecifes. The morning brought more hiking, onto Cabo San Juan, where we slept two more nights. That day was spent at a nude beach down the way, where we got minor sunburns in new places! This beach, along with all in Tayrona, are new challengers in the battle for the nicest beach. The next day we took a long hike inland (finally without our stuff!) to the ancient Tayrona settlement at Pueblito. Since three-in-a-row seems to be our limit in the tent, we continued back to the park entrance the following day. This time, however, we splurged and spent $4 for a horse to carry all our stuff.      Despite the endless negative media hype poured into all of our North American minds, we are realizing that Colombia is not the lawless anarchy it is built up to be. However, we are being sure to stay prudent and aware as always, but no more than in every other country. Colombia is beautiful, with extraordinarily friendly people, and has a lot to offer. The one bonus of Colombia's bad rep, is that only a certain type of traveller passes through it's filters.     As always, we love and miss you all; we are staying safe and happy every step of our journey. We have noticed we are looking at the calendar more often now that we are past the halfway mark of the trip! YIPES!Love, Kyle and FranCrib Score To Date:   Kyle - 50 Wins; 10 Skunks       Fran - 40 Wins; 6 Skunks
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1162149180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1162149180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kyleandfran/trip2006/1162149180/tpod.html Sun, 11 Feb 2007 14:14:50 -0500 Fran and Kyle's travels in Latin America

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Antigua, Guatemala

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Monterrico, Guatemala

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